Chapter 8 - The Shadow in the Gravel
Trouble did not arrive with legal briefs; it arrived in a black luxury sedan that crunched up the gravel driveway of the mill site on a wet Tuesday afternoon. The driver remained behind the wheel, but the rear door opened to reveal Victoria Sterling, stepping carefully over puddles in low rubber-soled boots, her cashmere coat buttoned tight against the damp chill.
The workers on the scaffolding slowed their hammers, sensing the alien intrusion. Julian was on the third-floor roof inspecting joists, leaving Elena alone in the open ground-floor bay.
Victoria walked in, her nose wrinkling at the smell of wet cement and hydraulic oil. She stopped five paces from Elena’s fold-out table, her gaze drifting over the neatly organized stacks of invoices and the thermos of soup sitting beside an open binder.
"You look ridiculous," Victoria said, her tone devoid of its usual performative theatricality, sounding merely exhausted and bitter.
May you like
Elena stood up smoothly, resting her palms flat against the wooden table. Her hands were scarred from the broken porcelain, but they were steady. "Can I help you find Julian, Mrs. Sterling?"
"I’m not here for Julian," Victoria snapped quietly. "He is lost to his absurd delusions. I am here to tell you that the municipal review board has frozen the zoning variance on this site. Work stops tomorrow."
